Three Easy Strategies to (Finally) Start Drinking More Water!
“Where’d my water go?” was the question I was constantly asking myself. As a kid, I’d leave water glasses everywhere, and to my mother’s chagrin, when I couldn’t find mine… I just got another one! (I still have this issue with coffee mugs). As a teen, I’d have a whole colony of water glasses on my nightstand, and I was totally fine with it until I discovered my brother’s cat was dipping his paw into them (I may or may not have swallowed a few particles of kitty litter along the way).
As an adult, I started using large plastic water bottles for my water source. But the same issue with having multiple water glasses happened – I ended up with plastic water bottles everywhere, especially in my car! (Yikes, don’t send the EPA after me!)
Besides the proliferating half-drunk water bottle issue, I had nagging concerns about drinking from plastic and chemicals leaching into my water. Since I somehow grew my plastic water bottle collection in my car, it was even more concerning since the bottles would sit in our extreme Arizona summer heat, which arguably, can cause more chemical leaching from the plastic1. (It’s controversial, but who wants to take a chance?)
More recently, as part of a goal to improve my energy and health, I decided to start drinking more water, and to finally quit drinking out of plastic. After some trial and error, I finally found the water-drinking solutions for me and am consistently drinking more water.
The solutions to drinking more water were simpler than I thought. I didn’t need to read a book, Google all the reasons I should drink more drink water or buy a new habit tracker planner. I just needed a few practical strategies and to find the right water bottle for me:
Water-Drinking Strategy #1: Find the Right Water Bottle for You:
- Find a Water Bottle with a Spout You Like to Drink from. I tried a pretty periwinkle blue glass tumbler with a straw and lid I simply didn’t end up using. The problem was the straw was small, so it took a while to get a good sip. It also had to stay upright, or it would leak through the straw. I also tried a leak proof ThermoFlask2 with a straw and that worked well. My favorite so far though has been a ThermoFlask with a spout lid. The spout is large enough to get several sips of water in a hurry, just like you can from a glass.
- Size Matters – I’ve tried 16, 24 and 32 oz. water bottles. The 16 ounce was too small – since I was aiming for 8 glasses a day, I’d have to fill it 4 times in a day. I don’t think that ever happened. I liked the 24 oz because it fit in my car cup holder and it only needed to be filled three times a day. I tried putting masking tape on the side and drawing three checkboxes for myself to “X” every time I drank a full container. That didn’t work (did I mention I get easily distracted?). The clear winner was the 32 oz. ThermoFlask. Since it seals, I can throw it in my car and it doesn’t have to stay in the cup holder. And I only have to fill it twice to get my eight glasses in. I can easily keep track of refilling only once.
- Durability and Functionality: I’m constantly on the go and have two small kids, so I need a rough and tumble water bottle that can endure some abuse and NOT LEAK! The pretty glass tumbler with the straw was a beautiful dream, but just didn’t work. I was afraid of breaking it or chipping it- even just setting it down, even though it had a protective silicone wrap around it. I’m pretty sure it was partly mental on my part – knowing it was glass. Once again the ThermoFlask with the spout lid did the job – super durable and leak-proof, and because it looks absolutely bulletproof, I’m not afraid to set it down or throw it (literally!) in my car when I’m in a hurry.
- The Brighter the Better! I got my ThermoFlasks from Costco, and since it was Costco, they came in a two-pack. One was a bright turquoise color, and the other was a steel grey. I started using the turquoise one and loved it. When it came time to wash that one, I switched to the gray one. I COULD.NOT.KEEP.TRACK of that thing for the life of me! Grey in the landscape of my house is camouflage! I swear it was hiding from me and I kept losing it – in fact I ended up leaving it at the hair salon. Find a water bottle in a bright color that makes you happy and that makes your bottle easily findable.
- Make Sure it’s Easy to Wash – I hate hand washing water bottles, so if they have less parts and pieces, I’m more apt to use them. This was another bonus for the bottle with the spout versus the straw – two easy pieces to clean versus three.
- It Should be Easy to Grab: If I have a sturdy handle that’s easy to grab with one hand, it makes keeping my water bottle with me even easier.
Water-Drinking Strategy #2: Keep it Close.
Out of sight, out of mind, at least as far as my water bottle goes. Keeping my bottle close by is a visual cue to keep drinking water (again, a bright color helps!). I know it’s possible for me to keep an object with me because I keep a short leash on my iPhone. Now I just make sure I have my water bottle along with my phone when I move to another area of the house or walk out to my car.
Water-Drinking Strategy #3: Taste Matters
I’m with the camp that doesn’t like the taste of Arrowhead water. 😛 I love the taste of bottled spring water, and I noticed when I switched to our R/O, I didn’t love the taste as much. We are in the process of updating our water filtration system. Another way to up the flavor factor is to add lemon or some other natural flavoring that makes you keep coming back for more.
Most of these tips employ the “strategy of convenience” to build good habits, which Gretchen Rubin talks about in her book “Better than Before.” Rubin writes, “To a truly remarkable extent, we’re more likely to do something if it’s convenient, and less likely if it’s not.” To that end, think about what would make drinking water more convenient for you, and try some of these strategies. You’ll find yourself actually hitting your water-drinking goals, and staying more hydrated than ever this summer!
1https://www.today.com/health/bottled-water-hot-plastic-may-leach-chemicals-some-experts-say-t132687
2Not sponsored. I mention the ThermoFlask here because it was affordable and I buy everything from Costco 😛 – I’m sure other similar brands would be great options as well.
